Who needs to complete an I-9
Federal law requires MIT to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all graduate students, including U.S. citizens, who are paid a salary that represents compensation for services. This includes graduate students holding a research or teaching assistant appointment.
All recipients of assistantship appointments who have not held an assistantship appointment by MIT during the current calendar year must complete a Form I-9. This includes:
- Students with their first RA or TA appointment.
- Students who held an appointment during the previous fall semester, but did not hold an appointment during the spring semester or summer term of the current calendar year.
Those students who held RA or TA appointments during the spring or summer of the current calendar year do not need to complete a new Form I-9.
When to complete an I-9
You may complete the Form I-9 as soon as you accept admittance to a graduate program that provides an assistantship appointment as part of your funding. We encourage you to complete the Form I-9 as early as possible.
By federal law, the latest you can complete the Form I-9 is within three business days of the assistantship appointment date. For example, if your RA or TA appointment is effective September 1st, you must complete the Form I-9 no later than September 4th. There are no exceptions to this deadline.
Because federal law prohibits MIT from employing anyone who has not had their employment eligibility verified within three business days, the failure to complete this process in a timely manner will result in the termination of your RA or TA appointment.
How to complete the Form I-9
Please follow the instructions on the Human Resources I-9 page.
In the event of a cancelled award
If your RA or TA appointment has been cancelled due to incomplete documentation, follow the instructions above to complete the requirements. Then, contact your departmental graduate administrator to request a reinstated RA or TA appointment.
